Pan Bagnat

This is honestly one of my all-time favourite summer dishes. My grandfather is a native of Nice and I grew up spending my summer holidays there with him. This was the first dish he ever taught me to make and he is so chuffed that I still make it today for my family and friends on a hot summer’s day. It’s the easiest thing to make as well as being incredibly delicious. One bite and you will be immediately transported to the Côte d’Azur. There are many variations on how to make this dish, but this is my family recipe.

Ingredients

1 large baguette, cut in half with the with bread inside removed

1 head of butter lettuce, washed and the leaves separated

2 eggs, hard boiled, cut into slices

3 ripe tomatoes, cut into slices

1 tin of tuna (preferably in oi) drained, and broken into pieces

A handful of Chaloner Kalamata olives, de-pipped and cut in half

A few glugs of Chaloner olive oil

A glug or two of red wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Method

Glug the olive oil and vinegar over the inside of the baguette (on both sides).

On the bottom side of the baguette, begin by layering the butter lettuce leaves, followed by the slices of hard-boiled egg and tomato alternately. At this point season with salt and pepper.

For the next layer add the tuna. If you see that you baguette is becoming a bit “wobbly” you can always gently push down on it to compact the ingredients. For the final layer, add the olives. You can add another glug of olive over the pan bagnat if you so please at this stage.

Finally, place the top part of the baguette (the lid) over the filling, slice into large chunks and enjoy